The European Commission has confirmed the calls and other actions of the second year of the two-year Horizon 2020 work programmes setting out funding opportunities for 2017 - including the new 'Closing the water gap' topic with a budget of €10 million.
Spanning seven years (2014 to 2020) and working with a budget of €77 billion, Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU research and innovation funding programme ever.
The calls and other actions under the current work programme updates have a budget of €8.5 billion. According to the Commission, it has the potential to change the nature of EU-funded research thanks to the introduction of open research data in all new Horizon 2020 calls. It also includes key actions supporting a forward-looking climate change policy.
As of the Work Programme 2017, the current Open Research Data Pilot will be extended to cover all thematic areas of Horizon 2020, making open research data the default setting. The EC said the move will boost competitiveness by accelerating innovation and collaboration, improving transparency and avoiding duplication of efforts.
A further new element in Horizon 2020 is the use of Data Management Plans (DMPs), detailing what data the project will generate, whether and how it will be made accessible for verification and re-use, and how it will be curated and preserved. The use of a DMP is required for projects participating in the Open Research Data Pilot.
Around €1.45 billion of the total funding in the Work Programme 2017 will go to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including €438 million through a dedicated instrument which should benefit over 1000 highly innovative SMEs. On top of that, financial instruments, targeted in particular to SMEs, will increase the opportunities for funding to support research and innovation.
Through the European Research Council (ERC), the best researchers will be able to investigate the best ideas that could lead to innovative growth-enhancing breakthroughs. In 2017 alone, almost €1.8 billion – worth around 1000 grants - will be available through ERC calls.
Water is among a number of key priorities in the Programme. The Commission said that growing water demands, mismanagement of water use and climate change are increasing the stress on water supply, water bodies, and associated ecosystems and infrastructures, and emphasise the need to close the water cycle gap, by reconciling water supply and demand in both quantitative and qualitative terms.
The new 'Closing the water gap' topic with a budget of €10 million in the 'Greening the economy' call will reduce fragmentation of water research and innovation efforts across Europe and contribute to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as the conclusions of the COP21 Paris Agreement on climate change.
Horizon 2020 will continue supporting a range of cross-cutting initiatives in 2017: Industry 2020 in the Circular Economy (€325 million) to develop strong and sustainable economies; Smart and Sustainable Cities (€115 million) to better integrate environmental elements, transport, energy and digital networks in the EU's urban environments; Technologies and standards for automatic driving (over €50 million); and the Internet of Things (€37 million) to foster the take-up of digital technologies.
Click here to visit the Horizon 2020 website
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